Metro race between Tom Hughes, Bob Stacey boils down to nuances in policy

View full sizeBenjamin Brink, The OregonianDuring the course of the race for Metro president, Tom Hughes and Bob Stacey appeared together at debates, including at City Club last week.

The candidates for Metro Council presidentlend themselves to easy caricature: Tom Hughes, former Hillsboro mayor, is the pave-it-over
suburban sprawl guy. Bob Stacey, former director of the conservation
group 1000 Friends of Oregon, is the lock-up-the-land no-growther.

Neither stereotype hangs true. Both are affable, thoughtful and deeply
familiar with land-use and transportation planning, Metro's core
responsibility. The race has yet to register with voters in Clackamas,
Multnomah and Washington counties, but Metro has great influence on
where and how the region grows. Under either candidate, Metro will
increasingly focus on economic development.

The candidates have much in common: white men in their 60s, registered
Democrats, with nine-letter names. They're in long-term marriages and
each has two grown daughters and a grandson. Stacey has lived in the
same house in Southeast Portland since 1976. Hughes has lived in the
same house in Hillsboro since 1974. Both have campaign offices on
Portland's east side; Stacey a block east of the Broadway Bridge, Hughes
just off McLoughlin Boulevard.

Both picked up colds in late September, perhaps because they've made
more than three dozen joint campaign appearances. They've so memorized
each other's stump background recitation that they introduced one
another at a campaign event. Hughes' campaign manager is named Stacey
and Stacey's manager is named, well, Brian -- but you get the idea.

In some cases, their differences amount to nuanced policy tweaks that
can't be summed up in 30 second TV commercials. Where they part company
is in the roles they've held in public life and who backs them.

PORTLAND ROOTS

View full sizeRoss William Hamilton, The OregonianBob Stacey, former director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, greets guests at a fund-raising house party in Portland's Irvington neighborhood

Homeowners Margie Harris and Jan O'Dell host an open house on Northeast
11th Avenue for Bob Stacey, who arrives on bicycle and wears a purple
"One less Car" T-shirt. It is the 107th open house of Stacey's campaign,
by his staff's count. After changing into an open-collar dress shirt
and jacket, he chats as guests sip wine and nibble cheesecake, shrimp
and fruit.

Introductions are not required. Several guests have known Stacey for 30
years; if anything, the event demonstrates the intertwined nature of
progressive Portland politics -- and that this is still a small state.

Harris says she watched the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption from Stacey's
porch. She and guests Kim Duncan, Jan Schafer and Tuck Wilson worked
with Stacey at Tri-Met when he was its planning director. Wilson
directed the extension of Tri-Met's MAX train, tunneling through the
west hills to reach Hillsboro -- where Tom Hughes sat on the city
council and became mayor.

Among the Stacey supporters is Angus Duncan, son of the late U.S. Rep.
Robert Duncan, founder of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and
chair of the governor's Global Warming Commission. With a laugh, Duncan
discloses that he knows and likes Hughes as well. In 1964 they faced off
in two-man teams for the Oregon high school debate championship, Duncan
for Medford High, Hughes for Hillsboro. Hughes' side won. "I josh Tom
about it from time to time, but I think he has the upper josh," Duncan
says.

When the time comes, Stacey delivers a condensed version of his campaign
speech and answers questions. With a bachelor's in political science
from Reed College and a law degree from the University of Oregon law
school, Stacey comes off as professorial in some settings but is warm in
person. He's tall, gray-haired and of ruddy complexion, with thick
brows that would be intimidating were he not so unfailingly polite.

Although best known for the seven years he spent as director of 1000
Friends, which often files suit against urban expansion, Stacey begins
every appearance with a call for jobs. Quality of life, he tells the 15
people attending, doesn't solely mean environmental protection or
farmland protection. "Quality of life begins with a job," he says.

But here Stacey draws the distinction. He believes thousands of acres
within the urban growth boundary can become "shovel ready" industrial
sites by clearing "brownfields" of contaminants, mitigating wetlands or
combining ownership of disjointed parcels. His policies will bring jobs
"where we already live," he says.

He says Hughes, his opponent, is too willing to expand the urban growth
boundary onto farmland. While working for a Portland law firm, Hughes
lobbied on behalf of people who own property on the urban edge and would
benefit from expansion. They've contributed to Hughes' campaign, Stacey
says.

It's a repeated theme. During last week's debate before the Portland
City Club, Stacey landed the sharpest barb. Hughes' development
supporters, he said, are "betting he'll let that sprawl happen."

The election, he concludes at the house party in Irvington, is "becoming a referendum on how we manage our urban land supply."

Toward the end, a young staff member distributes donation envelopes.

A HISTORIAN'S PERSPECTIVE

View full sizeAmiran White, Special to The OregonianTom Hughes, former Hillsboro mayor, shares a laugh during a visit to the Washington county community Action office. He's on the anti-poverty group's board of directors.

Portland State University. The South Blocks, late afternoon sunshine.
Earnest activists with clipboards circulate among returning students.

Tom Hughes is in his element. He earned his teaching credentials at PSU
and went on to teach history and government for 30 years at Aloha High
School. State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian was among his students,
and is a campaign supporter.

Hughes recounts his academic chase. Chemistry was an early love, but
history's alluring questions prevailed. "How did stuff happen? How did
we get this way?"-NT>

He's touring PSU's renovated Lincoln Hall with a small group from the
Oregon Mortgage Lenders Association. It's not a campaign appearance, per
se; he makes no speech. "Nah, just relationships," he says.

Hughes supports Portland State's aspirations for an education district.
It's not something Metro would be directly involved with, but the
council president could champion the idea.

In one classroom, the tour leader points out a new passive cooling
system, cutting edge sustainable technology, but notes the room still
has a blackboard. Days before, Hughes had said teaching is similar to
campaigning -- you have to be "on" all the time. Now, in the classroom,
he laughs when someone asks if his hand twitches to reach for the chalk.

"The thing is, I never even used an overhead projector," he says. "I was a chalkboard guy."

Hughes is short and stocky, with a white mustache and goatee. He's
talkative but not a schmoozer; his staff describes him as remarkably
unpretentious. He keeps a bobblehead of Portland Trailblazer Greg Oden
in his campaign office. "My knees are at least as bad as his," Hughes
says.

Mindful that Portland environmentalists often associate the suburbs with
sprawl, Hughes makes a point in every campaign appearance of saying he
favors a tight urban growth boundary. Like Stacey, he supports Metro's
current recommendation to add 300 acres of industrial land in Hillsboro.
He likes to explain how Hillsboro revitalized its downtown with arts
groups and a civic plaza, becoming a more complete town.

The city, now Oregon's fifth largest, was doomed to remain a bedroom
community if it hadn't pursued and landed large employers, Hughes says.
He was an active recruiter, immersing himself in the language of
business and fostering an attitude of customer service. To speed the
process, Hillsboro put all development service departments on the same
floor in its new city hall, including the fire marshal.

Hughes counts that as a deciding factor in the election. Both candidates
talk about adding jobs, he often says. "The difference is, I've
actually done it."

THE DIFFERENCES

Hughes has held elective office and managed a city of similar staff size
and budget as Metro. Stacey has been a chief of staff and department
head, and believes his additional experience as a lawyer and an advocate
give him an edge.

Stacey reports 2010 contributions of more than $588,000; his biggest
from Yamhill County vintner Eric Lemelson, who provided $70,500 in cash
and an $8,000 loan. Hughes reports 2010 contributions of more than
$363,000. His biggest are $10,000 from the Commercial Association of
Realtors and Local 48 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers.

Stacey says the unions, development groups and property owners who
contributed to Hughes have a stake in expanding the urban growth
boundary. Hughes responds that his donors represent a range of
interests, while someone like Lemelson represents a single vision and
agenda.

Hughes supports a new 10-lane Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia
River, saying three years and $100 million in planning have answered
most questions. The design is a bi-state commission's preferred
alternative. Stacey opposes the 10-lane design. He says construction
financing is uncertain, the design untested and the project will simply
push congestion down the freeway. He hasn't offered a specific
alternative.

Stacey counts endorsements from the Oregon League of Conservation
Voters, the Sierra Club, Congressman Earl Blumenauer and former
governors John Kitzhaber, Barbara Roberts and Vic Atiyeh. Hughes is
endorsed by the mayors of Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard,
Sherwood, Cornelius, Forest Grove, Tualatin, Fairview, Troutdale, Happy
Valley and Damascus. He's also backed by multiple chambers of commerce,
including the Portland Business Alliance.

THE RACE NOBODY KNOWS

"Nobody knows these guys," says a worker on one of the campaigns. The
percentage of voters who recognize their names is "in the single
digits."

Portland public opinion researcher Adam Davis agrees awareness of Hughes
and Stacey is low, and voters will look for recommendations. "For this
kind of race, we find people are dependent on endorsements of
organizations that they have some association with," he says.

In that sense, Stacey may have the better "ground game," Davis says.
"He's been out there in the advocacy field at a statewide and regional
level more than Hughes has. Hughes' base is really Washington County,
and he has to expand that into the other counties."

The Hughes buzz stems from Washington County's economic success, which helps at a time candidates all talk about jobs.

"But you've got to be careful how you play the business card, too,"
Davis says. "Big business is at the bottom of the list in terms of
credibility and trust."

The anti-government Tea Party sentiment won't help either candidate.
Voters in the Portland area aren't ready to toss out regulations and
slash taxes, Davis says. Instead, they want good government -- cost
efficiency, reducing duplication, working in partnership with other
governments and with the private sector. But he says voters are
surprisingly favorable toward Metro.

"When you consider why people live in the region, go down the list:
natural beauty, neighborliness, environmental quality," Davis says. "A
lot of people associate Metro services to those things."

Wilsonville City Councilor Celia Núñez, who has State Farm insurance
office in Newberg, says she's looking for a change in Metro's dealings
with the region's 25 cities.

"I believe at times Metro has been very Portland-centric," she says.
"I'd like to see it work better for the local governments it
represents."

Clackamas business owner David Marks likewise objects to what he calls Metro's "city of Portland focus."

"Everything outside the city is a distraction to what they want to
accomplish," he says. "I believe that the core ideology that is alive
and well in the city of Portland has overwhelmed the ability for Metro
to stay within its charged responsibility."

ABOUT METROWhat is it? Metro is the only elected regional government in the country, and its jurisdiction covers Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties, 25 cities and nearly 1.5 million people. It's governed by a full-time council president, with a salary of $114,468, and by six part-time councilors who are paid about $38,000 annually. The council president is elected by voters in all three counties, which have about 815,000 registered voters. That's the second-largest electorate in Oregon after statewide offices such as governor.

What does it do? A little bit of everything. Metro coordinates land use and transportation planning for the region, operates the Oregon Zoo, runs convention and performance venues, oversees garbage and recycling, and manages 12,000 acres of parks and natural areas. It has a $430 million annual budget and 754 employees.

How did we get here? Council President David Bragdon, prevented by term limits from running again, resigned in August to take a staff job with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bob Stacey, Tom Hughes and Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder competed in the May primary. Hughes took 37 percent of the vote and advanced to a runoff with Stacey, who won 35 percent. In the primary, Hughes won the suburban counties, Clackamas and Washington, while Stacey took Portland and Multnomah County.

Who are these guys? Hughes was a two-term mayor of Hillsboro and served on the City Council and planning commission before that. The city's civic plaza is named after him. His time in office coincided with Washington County's economic boom; it's home to Nike, Intel, SolarWorld and Genentech while remaining a leading agricultural county. Hughes also taught history and government for 30 years at Aloha High School. Most recently, he was a senior adviser on government affairs for Tonkon Torp law firm. Stacey was an original staff attorney with 1000 Friends of Oregon, the conservation group that formed in 1975 as self-appointed guardians and enforcers of the state's pioneering land-use planning laws. He was 1000 Friends' director from 2002 to 2009, when he stepped down to concentrate on the Metro race. He also was TriMet's policy and planning director, Portland planning director and chief of staff for Gov. Barbara Roberts and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, and worked for the Ball Janik law firm.

Issues? Every candidate in every race is talking jobs, Stacey and Hughes included, with Hughes touting his success at recruiting businesses to Hillsboro. Other issues include expansion of the region's urban growth boundary. Stacey says there are thousands of vacant acres for development within the current boundary and says Hughes is more willing to push growth onto farmland. Hughes says he favors a tight growth boundary. Both support Metro's current recommendation to add 300 acres of industrial land in Hillsboro.

What's next? The candidates aren't well-known outside public policy Wonkville, so look for heavy television advertising.